Method for improving the presentation of test stimuli during one-on-one clinical psychological tests

Abstract

A method for improving the administration of clinical psychological tests by storing multiple sets of visual stimuli and instructions in a computer that is operated and controlled by an examiner. The examiner selects desired stimuli or instructions from the sets and present them in a desired order, rate and format on a secondary display that is viewed by the examinee. The method eliminates the use of cumbersome stimuli booklets or a set of cards currently used by clinical test publishers. The method reduces the cost of developing new tests, modifying existing tests, and eliminates errors in stimuli presentation. The method enables control of the pace of stimuli presentation, and modification in real time, if necessary, of the course of tests according to the performance of the examinee and makes it possible for minimally trained technicians and psychologists to administer such tests at high standards.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit from U.S. provisional application No. 60 / 614,297 filed 30-Sept.-2004 by the present inventor.FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to the field of psychological evaluation and testing and more specifically to a method which improves the administering of “one-on-one”, ecologically valid, clinical psychological tests by using a primary and secondary display attached to a computer. [0003] In the course of many traditional psychological evaluations, an examinee performs tasks in an ecologically valid or life-like manner. Ecologically valid testing is performed for instance, by using pencil and paper, responding verbally to questions, manually manipulating objects, or solving puzzles that require manual dexterity or grapho-motor speed. The scoring and interpretation of the examinees' performance is usually determined by comparing the results with normative data that spe...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0026] According to the present invention there is provided, a method for administering ecologically valid psychological examinations to an examinee by an examiner equipped with a computer. The computer is attached to input devices, a primary display, viewed by the examiner, and a secondary display, viewed by the examinee. The method includes visually presenting at each stage of a test a stimulus and/or instructions to the examinee on the secondary display. The visual presentation is performed by the computer upon command of the examiner, and the examiner is visually presented at least a portion of the stimulus and/or instructions on the primary display, or symbols and text related to the stimulus/instructions, preferably without interfering with other applications running on the computer and without obscuring sections (e.g. windows) of the main display. Preferably, the examinee responds to the stimu

Problems solved by technology

Varying the rate of stimuli presentation, for example, can alter the responses of the examinee, thereby tainting the reliability of the test.

In reality, however, stimuli are not always presented to the examinee in a standardized manner.

As a result, technicians and cursorily trained psychologists find it difficult to locate the appropriate test stimuli, and end up slowing down the pace of presenting stimuli and thus extending the time of tests.

Similar and even more acute problems occur when stimuli of tests are presented on cards, as it is difficult to maintain correct order of the cards.

Clearly, the complexity of carrying out such tests demands considerable training and experience from the examiner.

Moreover, such abilities are affected by practice, so that the skill of psychologists that do not provide testing services regularly is likely to deteriorate, and retraining may be required.

Clearly, these regulations have increased the cost of administering psychological tests and, in practice; many complicated psychological tests are not administered at all.

The prior art methods do not provide, however, a method which presents visual test stimuli to the examinee by an examiner, in which the examiner controls and is able to modify the rate and sequence of their presentation.

Moreover, prior art methods do not enable the presentation of a series of stimuli which are determined in real time according to the performance of the examinee, while maintaining the ecological validity of the testing and ensuring real time accurate recording of the testing procedure, results and scoring.

Although such methods might have considerable merit for testing the general population, they are not adequate for psychological testing of cognitively impaired examinees, computer illiterate or technologically illiterate populations.

Indeed, it has been shown (Reference 4) that many tasks performed on a graphic interface of a computer-based system, e.g. memory tasks that require the recollection of words, stories; puzzles; manual dexterity tasks, lack ecological validity and do not reproduce the results obtained when these same tasks are performed in a conventional, life like manner.

These method, although useful, do not fully mitigate the difficulties encountered in carrying out tests in which series of stimuli / instructions have to be presented visually to the examinee during the course of these tests, as described earlier.

Frequent WAIS-R administration errors.

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